


p.s. i love you

by veilofimagination



Series: Further Down The Road (A L&WR Future Series) [1]
Category: Digimon - All Media Types, Digimon Adventure, Digimon Adventure tri.
Genre: Chocolate, Established Relationship, Friendship, Idiots in Love, Love, M/M, Valentine's Day, Valentine's Day Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-14 11:53:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,121
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29418213
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/veilofimagination/pseuds/veilofimagination
Summary: “I still think you should take some, Taichi,” Mimi says, gesturing to the pretty boxes sitting on the side of the table. “Yamato would like it. A small box of choco to confess your feelings.”Taichi stares at the box of homemade chocolates in his hand. It’s pretty. A light blue box tied with a darker-blue bow at Mimi’s insistence. Sora tied the bow, so it actually looks nice, like someone put some significant effort in. Like the gift-giver is trying to impress the recipient.Yamato is going to hate it. Or at least be thoroughly unenthused with the pomp and circumstance.
Relationships: Ishida Yamato | Matt Ishida/Yagami Taichi | Tai Kamiya, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Tachikawa Mimi & Yagami Taichi | Tai Kamiya
Series: Further Down The Road (A L&WR Future Series) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2088867
Comments: 2
Kudos: 55





	p.s. i love you

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Valentine's Day, Taiyama family!
> 
> This fic is also a flash into the future of my other fic: [Long and Winding Road.](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24595492/chapters/59410516=) Same Universe. You can enjoy this without reading that (but you should also read that).

## p.s. i love you

**_Remember that I'll always be in love with you_  
_Treasure these few words 'til we're together_  
_Keep all my love forever_**

**_P.S. I love you, you, you, you_ **

**_\- P.S. I love you, The Beatles_ **

Taichi is just leaving the library on Nishiwaseda campus, when his phone rings. He bounds down the steps away from the study group he’s just escaped, pulling out his phone as he does and sliding it to his ear without looking at the caller ID.

“Hello?”

“Taichi!” Mimi’s voice fills the phone. Loud, as if she’s shouting over music, and sounding slightly exasperated, for gods knows what reason. “Oh, thank god, you answered.”

“Hi, Mimi,” Taichi says, smiling. He shifts to the side of the walkway to let a group of giggling university girls pass him.

There’s a crashing noise in the back, followed by another voice letting out an elongated, “Oh no!”

“Everything okay, Mimi?’ Taichi asks, frowning into his phone.

Mimi releases a wretched sound, something between a cat whose tail just got stepped on and a balloon letting all the air out. “No, there’s an emergency!” she cries, voice echoing slightly as it travels through his phone.

Taichi’s frown deepens. “What’s wrong?” he asks, a flicker of something rising in his chest. “I’m on my way.” He checks his watch and then looks up to see the street corner he’s on. “I’m just leaving campus so I can be there in, maybe twenty minutes if I really book it—”

“Oh, Taichi,” Mimi breathes into the phone, sounding instantly lighter. Taichi feels a tinge of relief at the change on tone. “Thank you.” There’s a pause and Taichi waits for her to speak again, even as he picks up his walking pace, ready to break out into a sprint at any second. “Now, your university is super close to a really great store—”

* * *

****

“This is your emergency?” Taichi grumbles, dumping out a bunch of high-quality chocolate bars onto the counter of Mimi’s family’s apartment.

Mimi squeals, picking up one of the chocolate bars to study the cocoa butter percentage. “Oh good, you got the ones without vegetable oil.”

“Mimi,” Taichi sighs. He grabs a chocolate bar for himself and starts to peel back the wrapper, but before he can get very far, Mimi slaps it out of his hand. Behind Mimi, Sora snickers and Taichi’s frown deepens as the bar falls back to the counter. “Mimi. This is not an emergency. I thought it was something Digital World related. Like you, or Palmon, or someone was in trouble—”

Mimi’s eyes widen, shocked and dismayed. “Oh no. Palmon is fine and there’s certainly been no digimon attacks recently. Not that I’m aware of. Right, Sora?”

“Right,” Sora agrees, suppressing a giggle.

“And this _is_ an emergency,” Mimi insists, gesturing to a cutting board behind her, on which sits a rectangular slab of chocolate-like-substance. “Look at this Taichi. Isn’t this terrible?”

Taichi shrugs. “It looks like choco—”

“I can’t give Koushiro _that_ for Valentine’s Day _,_ ” Mimi continues, cutting off a slice and picking it up, holding the cube between two fingers. “It’s all grainy and gross.” She frowns, slamming her foot down on the trashcan pedal to open it and tosses the cube in, followed by the rest of the ‘terrible’ chocolate.

Taichi watches the perfectly good sweet get chucked. “It looked fine to me.”

Mimi shakes her head. “It was terrible,” she laments, starting to unwrap the new chocolate bars Taichi arrived with, on account of being threatened with bodily harm if he didn’t stop by a gourmet chocolate shop that is located by his university. Where he just happened to have to spend the afternoon—even though exams have just finished—because he still has a multi-term project to hand in before he can call the academic year complete.

“You used me,” Taichi complains, starting to pick up his bag.

Tilting her head, Mimi smiles at him. She unwraps the chocolate bar fully and breaks off a square, holding it out to him, as she bats her eyelids, voice laced with sugar. “Thank you, Taichi.”

“You’re welcome,” he grumbles, biting into the square, the taste of dark chocolate flooding his mouth. It’s delicious and he has to fight to keep his face neutral. Sora laughs anyway.

“Now that you’re here,” Mimi says, smile still plastered on her face and voice still sugary sweet. “You might as well help.”

* * *

****

“Taichi, what are you and Yamato doing for Valentine’s Day?” Sora asks, curiously, as she whisks cream on the stove for their last batch of truffles. They already have two batches of chocolate in front of Mimi and Taichi on the kitchen table, as well as two baking dishes full of homemade Nama chocolate, currently cooling in the fridge.

Taichi frowns at the bowl of cooled chocolate in front of him. He scoops out a spoon of it, as he’s been instructed, and starts rolling it into a ball with his palm. “Nothing probably,” Taichi replies. He holds the ball up on front of him, decides its adequately circular and shifts it to the side of the baking sheet he’s been ordered to fill.

“Nothing?” Sora repeats, arching an eyebrow.

“You haven’t planned anything?” Mimi asks, “It’s two days away!”

“It’s just another day.”

Mimi whirls on him. “ _Just_ another day?” She holds her own spoon out like a sword, pointing it at him. “It is not _just_ a day! It’s a special day, set aside specifically for the purpose of showing your boyfriend how much you love him.”

Taichi rolls his eyes. “Set aside for _women_ to get duped into buying chocolate for guys.”

“It’s romantic,” Mimi insists.

“It’s overhyped and commercialized.”

“You’re such a grouch,” Mimi pouts. She shapes the chocolate in front of her into a heart, dusts it with cocoa powder, and moves it to the side of her own baking sheet.

“I think it’s a nice day,” Sora says, lifting the now simmering cream off the stove and pouring over the last bit of chocolate in Mimi’s final baking pan. “A way to confess your feelings. A simple way to show someone you love them—”

“You would say that,” Taichi interrupts. He copies Mimi and dusts the next truffle he creates. _It’s uneven_ , he decides, putting it to the side, _but it’ll do_. “Ms. Crest of Love over there.”

Even Mimi laughs at that. And despite the fact the two of them are eighteen—almost nineteen—and in final days of completing their first year of university, Sora sticks her tongue out at Taichi. He returns the silly face.

“I still think you should take some, Taichi,” Mimi says, gesturing to the pretty boxes sitting on the side of the table. “Yamato would like it. A small box of _honmei choco_ to confess your feelings.”

Taichi makes another face. “Who am I—Sora?”

“Heeey,” Sora says, emphatically, at the reminder of her own confession. She frowns, crumbling up a chocolate bar wrapper and throws it at Taichi. “I was fourteen.”

“You haven’t even told us who you’re making chocolate for,” Taichi teases, good-naturedly. He watches Mimi for a few seconds, and then attempts to copy her as she stencils small decorations atop the chocolates. “How do I know these ones aren’t for Yamato too?”

“Taichi!” Sora exclaims, flabbergasted. She stamps her foot before moving quickly around the counter to swat him with her hands, beating him lightly on his shoulder. “Taichi! I wouldn’t.”

“I know!” Taichi says, raising his hands to protect both the chocolates he’s working on and his face. “Geez, you think I was trying to steal your boyfriend instead of the other way around.”

Mimi giggles and Sora sighs, slapping him one last time on the back of the head before walking back to her baking pan to stir the chocolate and cream. “Maybe I should steal him,” Sora mutters under her breath, but still loud enough for him to hear, “Save him from this obviously unromantic and lazy relationship.”

“You missed your chance. He’s mine now,” Taichi says with a grin and an affable shrug. He puts down the stencil and starts rolling chocolate into balls again. Sora meets his grin with her own smile, both grateful that this can be a memory to laugh about.

Mimi rolls her eyes. “And if you want him to stay yours, you should get him something. A box of chocolates to say”—Mimi holds the spoon she’s picked up again in front of her mouth like a microphone, flicks her hair over her shoulder, and lowers her voice to mimic him—“‘hey, you blond smoke show. I love you, and I have since I was eleven years old and tricked you into holding my hand so we could both get shot by Cupid’s arrows.’”

Sora laughs and Taichi groans.

“‘And then I loved you all the way through high-school,’” Mimi continues, voice still pitched low, sweeping her hand through the air in front of her, exaggerated-like, “‘All those times I picked a stupid fight with you, were just a way to be able to slam you into lockers or onto the ground and feel that hot body pressed up against mine.’” Mimi’s eyes glint mischievously. “‘Just argument after argument to disguise from you and my friends how much I wanted to’—”

“Okay!” Taichi says, loudly, cutting her off. Both girls start giggling again and he shakes his head, not bothering to disguise the smile that sits on his lips. “I’ll give him some damn chocolates.”

“Good,” Mimi chirps back, returning to her normal voice and pressing more chocolates into hearts, “Yamato deserves a boyfriend who gets him nice things. Especially on their first real Valentine’s Day.”

“Yamato will love them,” Sora chimes in, putting the pan into the fridge to set and coming to sit down at the table with them. She pats Mimi on the arm who is staring at the heart-shaped chocolates intensely, studying them for flaws. “So will Koushiro.”

Mimi flashes her a grateful smile, laced with a tinge of sadness. “I hope so.”

There’s a moment of awkward silence, before Taichi turns to Sora, quirking an eyebrow at her. “Is the guy you’re making them for also going to like them?

“Hopefully,” Sora says, blushing slightly.

Taichi runs his spoon around his now essentially empty bowl of chocolate, picking up flakes of cooled chocolate and plopping it in his mouth. Mimi rolls her eyes, picking up the bowl and moving it away from him. “Does he have a name?” Taichi presses, tilting his head to look at Sora.

That earns a scowl from her. “It’s none of your business, Taichi,” Sora says, and flicking him in the forehead with her forefinger and thumb. Mimi shakes her head.

“I’ll find out soon enough,” Taichi retorts, dropping his spoon and starting to place chocolates in a blue-coloured box. “Relationships don’t stay secret forever.”

Sora smiles at him, amused. “You’d know, wouldn’t you?”

* * *

****

Valentine’s Day rolls around quickly.

Taichi stares at the box of homemade chocolates in his hand. It’s pretty. A light blue box tied with a darker-blue bow at Mimi’s insistence. Sora tied the bow, so it actually _looks_ nice, like someone put some significant effort in. Like the gift-giver is trying to impress the recipient.

Yamato is going to hate it.

Or at least be thoroughly unenthused with the pomp and circumstance. Taichi’s been there to hear Yamato rant about these types of gifts in the past, particularly around this time of year. Every time he’d walked into their high school to find a gift waiting for him on his desk, rolling his eyes at the effort girls—mostly girls, yet not always—go to in order to try to impress him. All the cute, flustered, shy confessions that Yamato politely, if slightly coldly, turned down and then complained about under his breath. Even Sora’s confession got mostly a tepid reaction—and Yamato accepted that one.

And even though they’re _together_ —in the absolutely, no matter what, definitely, forever type of way—and he knows Yamato loves him, it’s not going to stop Yamato from rolling his eyes hard at the idea of a Valentine’s Day gift.

Nope, Taichi is certain: he’s definitely going to think this is stupid.

“Is that for Yamato?” Hikari’s teasing lilt wafts into his room. Taichi’s head snaps up, turning to look at his younger sister, leaning against his bedroom door, staring at the box in his hand.

Taichi sighs. “Yeah,” he admits, as he quickly removes the box from view, stuffing it into his bag.

Hikari’s eyes crinkle around the edges, an amused smile gracing her lips. “For Valentine’s Day? That is _so_ adorable.”

“Shut up. I got tricked,” Taichi grumbles, by way of explanation. Hikari laughs and Taichi glares at her, as he hoists the bag over his shoulder, holding the strap in both clenched fists. “Don’t judge. What did _you_ get _your_ boyfriend?”

Hikari laughs again, cheeks blushing ever-so-slightly. “I don’t have a boyfriend, Taichi.”

“Right.” Taichi rolls his eyes and pushes by her, ruffling her hair on his way past.

* * *

****

_“Just come in!”_

At the order, Taichi pushes open the door to Yamato’s apartment. Well, technically Yamato’s dad’s apartment, as both of them chose to continue living at home for their first year of university. Though Yamato, for all intents and purposes, lives alone: his dad more often than not off travelling outside of Tokyo for work, leaving Yamato on his own even more than he was in high school. Which is the case this week, and that suits Taichi just fine.

Toeing off his shoes and placing his bag down gently on a table, Taichi makes his way into the kitchen, where Yamato is standing in front of the stove, staring at a recipe and holding a spatula under folded arms. Taichi makes his way up behind him, arms snaking around Yamato’s waist, pressing his lips against his cheek, and murmuring, “Hey gorgeous.”

“Hey,” Yamato says back, turning his face slightly towards Taichi. And just like that they’re kissing: Taichi relishing the feel of Yamato’s lips under his, his tongue against his own. Yamato’s free hand slides up, cupping the side of Taichi’s face, as Taichi pulls Yamato closer into him, deepening the kiss.

“Miss me?” Taichi murmurs against Yamato’s lips.

Yamato chuckles low in his throat. “I saw you a few days ago,” he says, and Taichi pulls back far enough to arch his eyebrow in a question. Yamato pauses in pretend consideration, before shrugging his shoulder and admitting, “Okay, a _little_ bit.”

Taichi grins. _‘A lot’_ he mouths, before tightening his grip around Yamato’s waist and pulling a blushing Yamato into him, diving back to Yamato’s lips. His kiss is met with a soft moan from Yamato, whose hand slips backwards and sinks into Taichi’s hair.

“Okay, cool it, idiot,” Yamato adds after a minute, easing his mouth back from Taichi before they can get too carried away, “I want to get this recipe, right.”

Acquiescing, Taichi lets Yamato turn his attention back towards the stovetop, but he keeps his arms wrapped around his waist. Plopping his chin down on Yamato’s shoulder, he blinks at the stove. “What are you making?”

“A twist on a curry,” Yamato replies, studying the simmering mixture in front of him. “You’ll like it.”

“I like all your food,” Taichi murmurs into the nape of Yamato’s neck, content to hang off his back like a baby koala, while Yamato goes through the rest of the motions. Everything Yamato needs for the rest of the recipe is within arm’s reach, as if he was expecting this inevitability.

Once dinner is ready, Yamato ushers him to the kitchen table, placing the wok in the middle of the table and setting plates on either side. He sits, nodding his head at other chair, which Taichi studies momentarily, before dragging from the side opposite Yamato to the side next to him. Yamato rolls his eyes, but he doesn’t protest when Taichi places his chair into the corner closest to Yamato’s, their legs twisting under the table and thighs pressing up against each other.

“Thanks babe,” Taichi murmurs, leaning over to kiss Yamato’s cheek gently.

Yamato rolls his eyes, dishing the food out on the plates and slides Taichi’s towards him. “Itadakimasu,” Yamato says, picking up his chopsticks.

Taichi digs in as well, and the two of them chat between mouthfuls. Yamato talks about a class he’s anxious about getting into next term and about wanting to move closer to campus. Similarly, Taichi complains about his final project which he finally handed in yesterday, about whether he’s going to play football come the spring—he managed to make the team his first year, but life is becoming increasingly busy and he wonders whether he’ll have time his second year is up for debate, particularly if he too moves out, as he’ll need a job.

“So, is Koushiro still thinking about going to the States for school after graduation?” Yamato asks, when the conversation inevitably takes a turn towards their friends.

Taichi nods. “Yeah,” Taichi says, between bites of the curry, which has, unsurprisingly, turned out to be super good. “He’s still waiting on an acceptance letter, though I can’t imagine MIT doesn’t take him.”

“How’s Mimi’s taking it?”

“In typical Mimi fashion, I think,” Taichi replies with a shrug. “A mix of pretending it’s not happening, hoping they’ll find some way to make the most of things, and just being happy for him.”

Yamato places his chopsticks down on his now-empty plate and twists his body further towards Taichi, frowning slightly. “I’m glad we didn’t have to make a choice like that.”

Taichi swallows the last of his curry. He put down his chopsticks and reaches over to tuck a piece of stray hair behind Yamato’s ear. “Hey, I have no plans of leaving you, ever. I’m just glad you didn’t decide to go off to some fancy French college or something. Put that fancy French language of yours to use and find yourself some sexy Parisian boyfriend.”

Yamato rolls his eyes. He ignores the latter part of Taichi’s remark, solely retorting, “I’m lucky I scraped into the university I did.”

“Right,” Taichi scoffs, standing up and picking up the plates, “The absolutely not-prestigious Keio University. Yeah, only idiots go there.”

Yamato stands too, grabbing the wok and following Taichi back into the kitchen. “I’m just saying I’m not top ten ranked university in the world material like Koushiro.”

“Nobody’s quite like Koushiro,” Taichi replies, still holding the plates, only dropping them gently in the sink when Yamato nods his assent. Once both their hands are free, he takes a step closer to Yamato, wrapping both arms around his boyfriend’s neck. “Naw,” he adds, “You couldn’t have left me. You had to go to campus with my name slapped on the side.”

Yamato chuckles and leans in, kissing Taichi gently on the lips. “Yeah, that’s the reason. Not just pure coincidence”

Taichi smiles, pressing their foreheads together briefly. “What do you want to do with the rest of the evening?”

Yamato shrugs and Taichi lets his hands fall off Yamato’s shoulders at the movement. “Movie or something? Doesn’t matter.”

“Sure, we can find some made-for-television horror movie.”

“No!” Yamato snaps, following Taichi out of the kitchen. With a few quick steps, he moves around Taichi so he can jump onto the couch first and take possession of the remote control.

Taichi laughs, stopping briefly on his way to the couch to grab his bag off the side table he left it on. Yamato’s already focused on finding a movie he approves of, allowing Taichi to slide onto the couch without being watched. He steels himself, preparing for the inevitable eyeroll and muttering about dumb traditions that’s about to hit him when he hands this gift over.

“Hey, I got you something,” Taichi says softly, almost shyly, as he pulls out the blue box from his bag and holds it out to Yamato.

Yamato looks over puzzled, brow furrowed. He reaches out to take the box from Taichi’s hands. “What is this?”

“A gift.” Taichi blushes and adds, “Happy Valentine’s Day.”

Yamato still looks confused, even as he slowly pulls on the bow to unravel it. “You got me a Valentine’s Day gift?”

Taichi sighs. “Let’s not make a big deal out of it. I know you don’t like cheesy holidays like this. Honestly, I got tricked into it—Mimi and Sora are diabolical. Girls shouldn’t be trusted. With their gigantic eyes and fake-sweet voices and pretend emergencies. I told them you’d think it was stupid—” Taichi’s eyes widen suddenly, as while he’s been ranting, Yamato has slid across the couch and placed his fingers gently on Taichi’s chin, turning his face slightly so Yamato can kiss him.

“Thank you,” Yamato murmurs, when he lets go.

“Thank you?” Taichi blinks in confusion. “But you hate these types of gifts.”

“I like gifts from you, idiot,” Yamato says, shaking his head and tutting at him. “I never liked gifts like this before as it was embarrassing and weird and people got awkward when I said no. You’re always embarrassing and weird and yet, strangely—"

“ _Heeey_ ,” Taichi lets out while Yamato’s still talking, as he feels he should be offended.

“—I love you, you idiot.”

“Sure, you do. You just called me an idiot two times over three sentences,” Taichi says, putting a fake frown on his face.

Yamato shoves his shoulder, slightly hard yet under the guise of playfulness. “Because you are an idiot,” Yamato tells him, still holding the box, the lid still on it. “You really thought I wouldn’t like this?”

Taichi shrugs. “I wasn’t sure.”

“You can get me gifts anytime.” Yamato grins cheekily.

“Let’s not get carried away…” Taichi grumbles. Yamato laughs and kisses him again, murmuring another thank you against Taichi’s lips. “You’re welcome,” Taichi adds, finally, when Yamato pulls back.

Balancing the box on his lap, Yamato lifts the lid halfway off to look inside. He studies them for a moment, before asking, “Did you make these?”

“As I said, I was tricked,” Taichi replies, sighing heavily, “I was trusted with a minimal amount of responsibility. So, mostly rolling a shape that could pass as a circle and some decorating.” He gestures to the patchy, powdered chocolate truffle that Yamato is now holding in front of his face. “It’s harder than it looks.”

Yamato laughs. He takes a bite of the one he’s holding, chewing slowly. “It’s good though.”

“Technically it’s another dessert that Sora’s made you, she was in charge of the actual making of the chocolate part,” Taichi chirps, already ducking behind his arms in anticipation of the pillow that Yamato grabs hold off and swings over his own head and onto Taichi’s.

“Fuck off,” Yamato mumbles, but he’s still smiling.

“I’m glad you like them,” Taichi murmurs. He leans forward, kisses Yamato quickly and as he does, grabs the remote control that Yamato’s let go of in his assault with the pillow. He then draws back and leans against the arm of the couch, holding the pillow over his lap.

Yamato smiles, plopping the other half of the chocolate into his mouth. He then watches out of the corner of his eye as Yamato lifts the other side of the lid to the box to look at the rest of the chocolates. “Taichi,” Yamato says, slowly, starting to laugh, “Why are most of these decorated like I would expect you to decorate chocolate, but the other third is _pristinely_ decorated?”

He holds up another truffle that is crisscrossed with crisp, unwavering, red lines. A perfect, beautiful, stenciled truffle. Taichi feels his face warm. “Um…”

Yamato’s snorts, bursting into laughter. “Oh, Mimi is going to kill you.”

Taichi pulls one leg up onto the couch, crossing it under his thigh. He grins at his boyfriend, shrugging one shoulder as nonchalantly as possible. “Maybe she won’t notice.”

“Oh, she’s going to notice,” Yamato says, chuckling under his breath as he pops a second chocolate in his mouth, one of the pristinely shaped and stenciled chocolates from third of the box Taichi filled with ones he swiped from Mimi’s immaculate collection. “And I hope you know I’m not protecting you from her when she finds out.”

As if perfectly cued, Taichi’s phone starts ringing, vibrating in his pocket. Yamato laughs as Taichi pulls his phone out of his pocket. Yamato mouths ‘ _I love you’_ and then grins wickedly from his spot on the couch, holding the chocolate box in his lap, while Taichi brings the phone slowly to his ear.

“Hello?”

“Taichi! You jerk!—”


End file.
